Lemon growers hope for repeat in new lawsuit over Argentine imports

The U.S. Citrus Science Council has joined with five citrus growers in Central and Southern California to challenge the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to lift a 70-year-old ban preventing Argentine lemons from being imported to the U.S.  In the lawsuit, filed Thursday with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Fresno, the plaintiffs claim the USDA is ignoring a history of problems with contamination from insects and fruit diseases that reportedly have plagued Argentina’s citrus industry and is sidestepping its obligations to use scientific analysis to make its decision, as it’s obligated to do under provisions of the federal Plant Protection Act (PPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).The two laws authorize USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to restrict imports of foreign-grown fruit to ensure that pests, noxious weeds and diseases harmful to humans and crops aren’t introduced into the U.S.And the plaintiffs say U.S. officials must have some concerns over the Argentine lemons because for the first two years that imports are allowed, they can arrive only at ports in the northeastern U.S. The plaintiffs see this as an “implicit admission” that California presents a unique risk factor, citing not only that the state is the primary commercial citrus region in the U.S. but also a high amount of citrus is grown here in home gardens, both of which could be at risk from harmful insects and contagions that could arrive here with the Argentine fruit.